Top 25 most improved U.S. courses in 2016 on Golf Advisor

In golf, comeback stories are the best ones. At Golf Advisor, we're always excited to uncover the next golf course that is on the rebound.

Courses can struggle with their ratings for a variety of reasons. It can be as simple as flooding or drought, and as complicated as struggles between ownership and management. We looked at how golf courses fared with their ratings year-over-year to find the ones who improved the most. We found 25 facilities in the U.S. that improved their overall rating by a full star (out of five) or more.

In the past decade, more golf courses have closed all together than come out on the other side. But, in other cases, there is hope and a renewed dedication. In the case of this year's No. 1 course, it meant news owners, greens and investment back into the course.

We hope this best-of list, out of all the ones we do each year, ends up on the resume of some very dedicated staff members. You've worked hard over the past year, and your efforts are being noticed by your customers. Many of these facilities will admit there is still some upside to be gained.

For golfers, we hope that if you live in the area of one of the following courses and had given up on it after a bad experience in the past, you'll give them a second look.

Each of these 25 courses have a unique reason as to why things went wrong and what's been going right. Visit each course guide page to see what reviewers have had to say about each facility's bounce back. If you've played a course recently that has stepped up its game, be sure to let them know the effort is paying off with a course review of your own.

Brandon Tucker is the Managing Editor for Golf Advisor. To date, his golf travels have taken him to over two dozen countries and over 500 golf courses worldwide. While he's played some of the most prestigious courses in the world, Tucker's favorite way to play the game is on a great muni in under three hours. Follow Brandon on Twitter at @BrandonTucker and on Instagram at BrandonTuckerGC.

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